EFFECT OF RADIOACTIVITY AND THE HEINZ'S BODY (Reference to the Study on the Erythrocytes of the Ship's crews who were injured by the Hydrogen Bomb Experiment at Bikini Atoll on March 1954)

It has been demonstrated that the formation of so-called Heinz's body in erythrocytes could be brought forth by the use of radioactive phosphorous (P(32)) in both vivo and in vitro. The Heinz's body formation was also recognized in erythrocytes in general of the blood obtained from the ship's crews of the Fukuryu Maru who had been subjected to an influence of the hydrogen bomb experimental trialx in Bikini on March 1954, and examined when red blood cells have been suspended in physiological salt solution and left for 6-9 hours in an incubator at the temperature of 37°C. The finding of Heinz's body in the red blood cells of the crews of the above vessel may have been attributed to the lowered functional capacity of the reticuloendothelial system, speaks for erythrocytes susceptible to undergo retrogressive degenerative change.